33 people missing after landslides in China, state media reports

This aerial photo taken on September 29 shows Chinese rescuers searching for survivors at a landslide area in the village of Sucun in Suichang county, east China’s Zhejiang province. (AFP)

At least 33 people are missing a day after landslides swept through two east China villages, state media reported Thursday, as rescuers combed through rubble for survivors.

Heavy wind and rains brought by Typhoon Megi triggered the landslides around 5:30pm (0930 GMT) Wednesday, which struck the villages of Sucun and Baofeng in eastern Zhejiang province, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Thirteen people had been rescued by early Thursday and 33 remain missing, it said.

Video footage on local media showed torrents of water and rock pouring down a mountain towards houses in the valley below while terrified onlookers scream.

Chinese rescuers search for survivors at a landslide area in the village of Sucun in Suichang county, in China’s Zhejiang province on September 29. (AFP)

Twenty houses were destroyed and 17 flooded by roughly 400,000 cubic metres of debris, Xinhua cited a county official saying.

The government has relocated almost 1,500 residents and dispatched 1,200 rescuers to the scene with pumps and excavators, but roaring floodwaters have hampered their efforts, it said, adding that smaller landslides are “likely” to be triggered.

“Our work now is to save people, survivors above all, and at the same time prevent further secondary disasters occurring,” the Suichang County Armed Forces chief said on state broadcaster CCTV.

Policemen walk on a street after a landslide hit the village of Sucun in Suichang county, east China’s Zhejiang province on September 29. (AFP)

Heavy rains poured on rescue workers in Sucun village Thursday, a day after Megi made landfall with winds of around 120 kilometres (75 miles) an hour.

The typhoon has dumped more than 30 centimetres (around 12 inches) of precipitation in several areas and killed at least one person in Fujian, who died after a flash flood tore through his home, according to local media reports.

Images on the state broadcaster showed parked cars on the streets of the coastal city of Xiamen submerged up to their windshields in floodwater.

Victims comfort each other at a temporary shelter after a landslide hit the village of Sucun in Suichang county, east China’s Zhejiang province on September 29. (AFP)

The typhoon had smashed into Taiwan earlier in the week, wreaking a trail of destruction and killing seven as it raked across the island.

It also caused an estimated Tw$1.31 billion ($42 million) in agricultural damage and left more than four million households without power, with around 170,000 still without power as of Thursday.